As countries develop, the share of the population working in agriculture is declining. While more than two-thirds of the population in poor countries work in agriculture, less than 5% of the population does in rich countries. It is predominantly the huge productivity increase that makes this reduction in labor possible.

Empirical View

Long-Run Perspective: 1300 to Today

Absolute size and share of the agricultural labor force in England, the Netherlands, and France, 1500-2000 – Simon (1996)2

Employment in agriculture since 1800

The visualisation below shows the total number of people employed in agriculture across select European, North American and Asian countries since the year 1800. Over this period - and in particular since 1950 - we see an overall decline in agricultural employment to comparably low levels of employment today.

Share employed in agriculture

The map shows the share employed in agriculture country by country. Three quarters of the labor force in a poor country like Madagascar are employed in agriculture. In rich countries like Germany or the UK it is only 1 in 100 who is employed in agriculture.

Agricultural labor force and rural population by continent, 1960-2005 – World Development Report (2008)3

Women in agriculture

Land ownership by women

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) aim to capture data on the role of women in agriculture and land ownership within its Gender and Land Rights Database. In the map below we see the share of agricultural landowners who are female as a percentage of total agricultural landowners. As part of its definition the FAO notes that this measure is inclusive of women who own the land solely or jointly with someone else inside or outside of the household.4

Unfortunately such data is not gathered continuously or periodically across most countries, so we are limited to results from a single census year. Note that this census year is not consistent across all countries. Data for most European and North American countries is based on 2010-11 datasets, whereas other countries can extend from 1993-2011. For graphing consistency, this has been shown as a single year (e.g. assuming these figures are representative of 2011). The actual years of measurement for each country can be found in the referenced FAO report and database.

For the majority of countries, female land ownership represents less than 30 percent of total ownership. However, this has significant variation across the world, without a strict continental pattern. Overall, we see the highest rates of female ownership in Europe, however Botswana and Malawi both have ownership shares greater than 30 percent. Although some of the lowest rates are recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, high-income countries can also have a low incidence of female land ownership; the United States, United Kingdom, Norway and Finland all have shares below 15 percent.

Agricultural productivity

In the chart below, we have mapped the agriculture value added per worker (measured in 2010 constant US$). Agriculture value added per worker is calculated as the total agricultural value added divided by the number of people employed in agriculture.

Overall, we see the highest rates of agricultural value added per worker in across Europe, North America and New Zealand; in 2017, several countries had a value added per worker of $70,000. In comparison, most countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the value added per worker was typically less than $1,000 in 2017.

Correlates, Determinants & Consequences

The importance of the agricultural sector declines as the economy grows

Value added in the agricultural sector is low in prosperous economies

The visualisation shows that the importance of the agricultural sector is small in rich countries. In countries with a GDP per capita over 15,000 int.-$ less than 10% of the value added in the economy comes from the agricultural sector.

The share that the agricultural sector contributes to total output is low in prosperous economies

Few people are employed in the agricultural sector in prosperous economies

Labor productivity in agriculture increases as we get richer

This visualisation shows the agriculture value added per worker versus gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (both measured in constant 2010 US$). Agriculture value added per worker is calculated as the total agricultural value added divided by the number of people employed in agriculture.

Overall, we see that the agriculture value added per worker is higher in higher-income nations. The same applies to most countries over time: as countries get richer, the agriculture value added per worker increases; this is likely to result from several factors including technology adoption, affordability of agricultural inputs, and the implementation of more productive practices.

Szirmai (2005) publishes data on the agricultural labor force for some countries for the time 1950 to 2000 on his website. These data are also taken from (older publications of) the World Bank.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

Data: Agriculture workers as % of labor force

Geographical coverage: Global

Time span: Since 1980

Available at: The website of the ILO – and in a ready to use format on Gapminder here.

References

The data before 1800 are taken from Stephen Broadberry and Leigh Gardner (2013) – Africa's Growth Prospects in a European Mirror: A Historical Perspective. Online here.

The original source (pre-1800 data) for most of Broadberry and Gardner (2013) are Allen, R.C. (2000), “Economic Structure and Agricultural Productivity in Europe, 1300-1800”, European Review of Economic History, 4, 1-26. Online here.

The post 1980 data is taken from the World Bank. The series refers to Employment in agriculture (% of total employment). It is online here.

This is from chapter 12 (authored by Richard J. Sullivan) in Simon(Editor) (1996) - The State of Humanity. Wiley-Blackwell.

In this publication it is Figure 12.1.

Agriculture includes forestry and fishing. Data for the period from 1840 to the present are from Mitchell (1981) and the Yearbook of Labour Statistics for The Netherlands and France, and from Lee (1979) for England.

For the period 1500-1800, the data are from Wrigley (1986), with the following adjustments. Agriculture's share of the total labor force are Wrigley's share of the agricultural population. The absolute size of the agricultural labor force was calculated as 45% of Wrigley's agricultural population. The 45% is a rough estimate based on the agricultural labor force participation rate for early nineteenth century England.

Wrigley, E. Anthony (1986): "Urban Growth and Agricultural Change: England and the Continent in the Early Modern Period." In Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabbeds (guest edited by Roger S. Schofield and E. Anthony Wrigley), Population and Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 123-68.

This is taken from World Bank (2008) – World Development Report (2008): Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. Online here.

The FAO defines a landowner as: "An individual is defined as a landowner whether they own land solely (they are the only owner of a plot of land) or jointly with someone inside or outside the household. Thus, households may have multiple landowners. In addition, households may own multiple plots of land with different owners identified for each plot."

This is taken from World Bank (2008) – World Development Report (2008): Agriculture for Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. Online here.

Citation

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